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Voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping of stroke lesions underlying somatosensory deficits

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Version 2 2024-06-04, 06:26
Version 1 2021-06-18, 10:57
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-04, 06:26 authored by S Meyer, SS Kessner, B Cheng, M Bönstrup, R Schulz, FC Hummel, N De Bruyn, A Peeters, V Van Pesch, T Duprez, S Sunaert, M Schrooten, H Feys, C Gerloff, G Thomalla, V Thijs, G Verheyden
The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between stroke lesion location and the resulting somatosensory deficit. We studied exteroceptive and proprioceptive somatosensory symptoms and stroke lesions in 38 patients with first-ever acute stroke. The Erasmus modified Nottingham Sensory Assessment was used to clinically evaluate somatosensory functioning in the arm and hand within the first week after stroke onset. Additionally, more objective measures such as the perceptual threshold of touch and somatosensory evoked potentials were recorded. Non-parametric voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping was performed to investigate lesion contribution to different somatosensory deficits in the upper limb. Additionally, structural connectivity of brain areas that demonstrated the strongest association with somatosensory symptoms was determined, using probabilistic fiber tracking based on diffusion tensor imaging data from a healthy age-matched sample. Voxels with a significant association to somatosensory deficits were clustered in two core brain regions: the central parietal white matter, also referred to as the sensory component of the superior thalamic radiation, and the parietal operculum close to the insular cortex, representing the secondary somatosensory cortex. Our objective recordings confirmed findings from clinical assessments. Probabilistic tracking connected the first region to thalamus, internal capsule, brain stem, postcentral gyrus, cerebellum, and frontal pathways, while the second region demonstrated structural connections to thalamus, insular and primary somatosensory cortex. This study reveals that stroke lesions in the sensory fibers of the superior thalamocortical radiation and the parietal operculum are significantly associated with multiple exteroceptive and proprioceptive deficits in the arm and hand.

History

Journal

NeuroImage: clinical

Volume

10

Pagination

257-266

Location

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Open access

  • Yes

eISSN

2213-1582

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Publisher

Elsevier

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